Advances in science have made it possible to extract a wide variety of information about an individual from a biological sample obtained from that individual. For example, it can assess the health, identify possible future health issues, and provide the genetic makeup of the individual. The results of any analysis, however, loose much of their beneficial qualities when the analysis is attributed to the wrong individual or if the sample is processed incorrectly.
Much, if not all, of these analyses are processed in laboratories. The laboratory usually obtains its samples from institutions, such as the hospital, clinic, or police, and from individuals, such as samples sent to it from individuals using, for example, a Home HIV test kit. In these laboratories, many samples are processed daily where they may pass through many sets of hands and potentially be subjected to many different tests. Each time a sample is handled, there is the potential for an error to occur. In many cases, a human operator is the source of the error. For example, in the collection of the sample, the sample should be clearly identified, e.g., from whom the sample was obtained. Samples, however, once removed from their natural environment, such as an individual's person, tend to look very similar to other samples of like kind. Because of this, mix-ups have been known to happen when the information was incorrectly transcribed, labels were placed on the wrong samples, or the identifying information was inadvertently omitted or was incomplete. Moreover, errors can occur in the processing steps as well, such as the wrong reagents being used or the wrong tests being performed. It is, therefore, desirable that laboratories implement systems, methods, and apparatus for maintaining the fidelity of their work, i.e., the proper analysis on the right sample and being able to report the same to the person who ordered the test.
To prevent errors of this kind, elaborate and costly systems of paperwork are used. Current systems may also use barcodes to identify the samples, such as patient information, as well as barcodes to carry other information, such as instructions about tests to be run. Often, this leads to a need to use multiple barcodes, each directing a specific function or holding information related to the sample. Because of the limited space available for these barcodes on sample containers or of the risk of confusion, one barcode may need to be placed over another in order to run the slide on more than one test. Alternatively, the old barcodes can be removed; however, it must be done without removing the barcode holding needed information, such as the patient information. Moreover, since most barcodes look similar, the more widespread the use of barcodes for each specific task or bit of information, the greater the likelihood of placing the wrong barcode on a sample, possibly misidentifying the sample and/or providing incorrect instructions for handling the sample.
Once a sample is collected, it is labeled, or otherwise identified, and sent to a laboratory for further processing. For example, in a hospital setting, a health care provider will collect samples from a patient. These samples might be biopsies (pieces of tissue removed surgically) or other samples from a person including samples of blood, urine, stool, scrapings from the skin, or any other location, hair etc. Typically one or more samples are bagged, labeled and sent to a laboratory with a work order that specifies what diagnostic tests are to be performed on them. The laboratory may be in the same building as where the sample was collected or it may be in another facility or even in another country. The laboratory may even forward the sample or a portion of the sample to yet another laboratory to do tests it cannot perform.
Once the sample arrives at the laboratory to be processed, the sample is prepared for analysis. For example, the sample can be taken to a grossing station. At the grossing station, the sample is removed from its container and the desirable portions of the sample can be extracted and placed in the appropriate setting for further processing. For example, the portions can go into small baskets called cassettes, which are used to carry the samples while they are fixed and embedded in wax. Once embedded, the samples can be sliced on a microtome and placed on slides. Since the slices are very thin (microns) many slides can potentially be made from one cassette. While slides are described, other receptacles for holding the sample are used in the laboratory, and they are contemplated for use herein, for example, tubes, cuvettes, biochips, and microplates, to name just a few. In each case, the source of the extracted portions of the sample must be correctly identified.
From here, the slides with the sample may go on to be specifically treated for the test to be run on it, such as staining with reagents. The types of reagents used will depend upon the test that is to be performed. Slides can be stained with a variety of chemicals that will make relevant cells, germs or other structures visible. Once the slides are processed, they can be read by an automated microscope, such as an ACIS (Automated Cell Image System) or by an individual through a microscope. A pathologist can examine the slide or the image of the slide and issue a diagnostic report that can be sent back to the clinician. Throughout this process, the user should ensure that all the slides are identified properly and that the proper test is being performed.
A fluid sample can be processed in a similar manner except that, instead of the grossing and microtome steps, the cells in the sample can be spun down with a centrifuge and transferred to a slide. Smears may be applied directly to a slide by hand. There are a number of other patented and non-patented methods of getting cells onto a slide that could be used in conjunction with the system described herein.